End of the Year Celebrations

That time has come again, and we are saying goodbye to another school year.  I know its cliche' but honestly, where does the time go?!  Fourth grade is the first year I can remember clearly when I think back.  I remember my teacher, my friends, assignments we did.  Shaye had two teachers this year, Ms. Lintz left at Christmas and she finished the year with Ms. Tise.  Shaye thought she was pretty strict, but liked her too.  This will be the kids last year at Griffin Elementary.  Since we moved, they will now be attending a different school.  

Shaye got the award for Most Athletic Girl in the class.  She acts embarrassed, but I know she was secretly really hoping she would be voted for this one.  She always tells me after school how she was the only girl who will play soccer with the boys.

Jaxson had Ms. Heinold.  She was a wonderful first grade teacher.  He really liked her.  First grade is a tough year with so much reading, but he has done really well.  Jaxson got the handy helper award.  I'm glad to hear he helps out at school.  Ms. Heinold had nothing but nice things to say about him, and we hope in continues this way!

Floor Project

We love our new house, but when we bought it we knew there were some changes we wanted to make.  It had this extremely tall, two-story family room.  

The kids' rooms, playroom, and media room are all upstairs but they could see over the railing.  It made it convenient when we wanted to holler up to them or toss a toy upstairs for them to put away.  It wasn't so nice when they wanted to throw toys down or when the noise of upstairs felt like it was right on us.  So we planned to close it in.  It would make a nice 10 foot ceiling down stairs and a big, open play space upstairs.

I know, these are awful pictures.  I snapped them all with my phone the night before they started construction so I would have some before pics.  As you can see, they had already taken off the wood trim so I was running out of time.  

And this is what it looked like from upstairs.  The playroom and desk were right agains the rail looking over.

We moved in Feb. 29th, and they started the floor construction early May.  It took 10 days for them to complete it.

Lots of dust, mess, and trying to keep the little girls out of the way.

And then it was done!!  We love it.  It makes the family room much more cozy.  The giant ceiling was a neat feature, but it made for a cold echoey room.  This is much nicer.

And now there is this big space upstairs.  As you can see, the kids are already busy spreading toys across it.  Its an extra 350 feet.

In time I'm sure we'll get a ping pong table or something fun to go in it, but for now its room to run and play.

Mother's Day

It was a happy Mother's Day for me.  Sam and the kids got me the bright Nike Free shoes and cooked me a nice dinner.  One of my favorite things about Mother's Day is the cute things the kids bring home from school, where you get to learn what they really say about you when you're not there! :)

Jaxson brought home this book where he filled in the answers to the prompts.  

"Dear Mom.  Thank you for cleaning and being sooo nice.  You are the best mom in the world.  I love you sooo much."  Love, Jaxson

"My favorite thing about my mom is she looks after me."

"The best time I ever had with my mom was when we went to the rodeo."

"The funniest thing about my mom is when she takes us to the swimming pool."

"If I could give my mom something special it would be a necklace because she likes necklaces."

"My mom taught me how to read."

I'm going to pretend that line about "she always watches tv" actually says she is always running and going to the gym!! :)

And Shaye made this cute book of 10 things I love about my mom.  Inside it said:

1.  I love how you love me.
2.  I love your personality
3.  I love your cooking
4.  I love your smile
5.  I love you
6.  I love your sense of humor
7.  I love your hair
8.  I love how you love me
9.  I love how you care
10.  I love how you are

And little Syd made a cute picture frame at her preschool, which she quickly claimed as hers since it "had a picture of her in it!"
I love my babies.  I'm grateful to be their mom.

Hoppy Birthday

My little baby is already 2 years old!  She seems so little compared to the big kids, but time is flying by.  Paige and her cousin, Julian, were born on the same day - April 9th.  This year Easter was on April 8th.  So we went to mom's house Easter Sunday for Easter dinner and birthday celebrating.  I had my video camera out, so I didn't get as many pictures as I needed.  I never can juggle the two of them!  Paige had lots of guest at her party.  Other than our whole family, grandma and grandpa were there, along with Emmy and Poppy, Uncle Brooks, Julian, Leah and her son Josh, Uncle Kyle and Julian's grandparents came to celebrate with him.

First there was the egg hunt.  Everybody else ran around hunting while birthday girl sat on the chair eating any candy she got!

Then after dinner, there was cake and ice cream.  Uncle Brooks' birthday was April 3rd, so he was part of the celebration too.  I made two Easter inspired birthday cakes.

And then present time where the kids got spoiled with fun toys and cute clothes.

My adorable little two year old is so fun.  She talks quite a bit and is never to be held back.  Whatever the big kids are doing, she is doing too.  She has more expressions than a book, and has come up with all sorts of ways to get everyone to do what she wants.  The big kids love helping her, and her and Sydnee are best of friends.  She's our little Paigey Poo, Pagers, Pay Pay, Princess!